[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 62 (Thursday, April 7, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2098-S2099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 589--RECOGNIZING, HONORING, AND COMMENDING THE WOMEN 
   OF UKRAINE WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM AND THE 
                           DEFENSE OF UKRAINE

  Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Ms. Ernst, Ms. Hirono, Mrs. Blackburn, Ms. 
Hassan, Mrs. Capito, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Collins, Ms. Warren, Ms. 
Murkowski, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Stabenow, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Smith, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Ms. Sinema, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Rosen, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. 
Murray, Ms. Lummis, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Fischer, and Mrs. Hyde-Smith) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 589

       Whereas, on February 24, 2022, Russian Federation President 
     Vladimir Putin instigated an unprovoked, unjustified, and 
     unlawful war violating the territorial integrity of the 
     sovereign country of Ukraine;
       Whereas, in response to this invasion, the people of 
     Ukraine marshaled their will to defend their country and 
     shared belief in a sovereign Ukraine in order to resist the 
     imperialist ambitions of Vladimir Putin;
       Whereas every Ukrainian man, woman, and child has done 
     their part to defend democracy and freedom in Ukraine;
       Whereas women have played a key role in defending Ukraine, 
     keeping their families and innocent children safe and 
     responding to the invasion by the Russian Federation;

[[Page S2099]]

       Whereas, in the first 6 weeks of fighting in Ukraine, more 
     than 4,300,000 Ukrainians, of which the majority are women 
     and children, fled the country in response to Putin's war;
       Whereas women play a critical role in facilitating the 
     transit of children to safety, including by escorting the 
     children of parents and guardians who cannot leave Ukraine so 
     that such children are able to find safety in neighboring 
     countries;
       Whereas the women who remain in Ukraine contribute to all 
     aspects of warfighting, including by fighting on the front 
     lines and as part of the territorial defense, delivering 
     supplies and weapons, and preparing cities for assaults by 
     the Russian Federation;
       Whereas 17 percent of the armed forces of Ukraine are 
     women;
       Whereas the women of Ukraine have a long history of 
     defending Ukraine and standing up for their rights and 
     freedoms;
       Whereas, following the 2014 invasion of the sovereign and 
     independent state of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, the 
     women of Ukraine joined the fight to preserve their 
     independence;
       Whereas, despite significant contributions to the war 
     effort, outdated legislation in Ukraine classifies women as 
     cooks, tailors, and administrative assistants, even while 
     women were fighting and dying on the front lines beside their 
     male counterparts;
       Whereas women are an integral part of the armed forces of 
     Ukraine and continue to defend their homes and their country;
       Whereas, on March 9, the armed forces of the Russian 
     Federation deliberately attacked civilian targets in 
     Mariupol, Ukraine, which destroyed a hospital that served as 
     both a maternity ward and a children's hospital, killing two 
     women and a baby;
       Whereas, following the devastating attack on the well-known 
     and established hospital, the world watched in horror as 
     pregnant women, mothers carrying newborn babies, and young 
     children fled the rubble of what should have been a safe 
     place;
       Whereas the women at the hospital should have been 
     celebrating new life and looking toward raising their 
     children in peace and safety, instead, those women are 
     seeking shelter in subways, giving birth in bunkers, and 
     worrying for the safety of their children and the future of 
     Ukraine;
       Whereas the attack on the maternity ward and children's 
     hospital in Mariupol was the third such attack on a maternity 
     ward in Ukraine by the Russian Federation since the beginning 
     of the invasion on February 24;
       Whereas, according to the United Nations, more than 4,300 
     women have given birth since the start of the war, and 80,000 
     Ukrainian women are expected to give birth in between April 
     and June of 2022;
       Whereas all women, in every situation, have the right to a 
     safe birth and access to crucial supplies necessary for the 
     management of pregnancy complications, including oxygen and 
     medical supplies, which are running dangerously low in 
     Ukraine because of the ongoing violence and refusal on the 
     part of the Russian Federation to allow for safe passage for 
     humanitarian purposes;
       Whereas the unprovoked attack on a civilian building 
     constitutes a war crime under the Geneva Convention relative 
     to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, done at 
     Geneva August 12, 1949, (commonly referred to as the ``Fourth 
     Geneva Convention'') and should be investigated as such a 
     crime;
       Whereas the Russian Federation has deliberately attacked 
     civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, including schools, 
     hospitals, businesses, apartment buildings, and utility 
     services;
       Whereas the initial days of the invasion of Ukraine by the 
     Russian Federation have resulted in a disproportionate number 
     of women and children seeking safety outside of Ukraine;
       Whereas Ukrainian women and girls, like women and girls in 
     all humanitarian emergencies, including women and girls 
     forced to leave their homes in conflict settings, face 
     increased and exacerbated vulnerabilities to--
       (1) gender-based violence, including rape, child marriage, 
     domestic violence, and sexual exploitation and assault;
       (2) all forms of human trafficking;
       (3) disruptions in education and livelihood;
       (4) lack of access to health care; and
       (5) food insecurity and malnutrition;
       Whereas the world has a responsibility to respond with care 
     to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and in neighboring 
     countries to address the specific needs of women and girls;
       Whereas the United Nations Security Council adopted United 
     Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on October 31, 2000, 
     acknowledging the impact of conflict and security decisions 
     on women and calling on all member states to include ``women 
     at all decision-making levels in national, regional and 
     international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, 
     management, and resolution of conflict'';
       Whereas, according to the United Nations Entity for Gender 
     Equality and the Empowerment of Women (commonly referred to 
     as ``UN Women''), peace negotiations are more likely to end 
     in a peace agreement when women and women's groups play a 
     meaningful role in the negotiation process, and according to 
     the International Peace Institute, a peace agreement is 35 
     percent more likely to last at least 15 years if women 
     participate in the development of the peace agreement;
       Whereas, in 2016, Ukraine adopted its first National Action 
     Plan for the implementation of United Nations Security 
     Council Resolution 1325, and, on October 28, 2020, Ukraine 
     approved a new National Action Plan for 2021 through 2025 in 
     order to address the impact on women of the aggression of the 
     Russian Federation against Ukraine and to ensure gender 
     equality in the security and defense sectors of Ukraine;
       Whereas representation of women in politics in Ukraine has 
     increased steadily since the first parliament of an 
     independent Ukraine met in 1990;
       Whereas more than 20 percent of seats in the ninth and 
     current Verkhovna Rada are held by women, the most in 
     Ukrainian history;
       Whereas women across Ukraine have made political gains in 
     recent years, including in local elections on October 25, 
     2020, where 38 percent of deputies elected were women; and
       Whereas women in Ukraine should be involved at all levels 
     and in all aspects of leadership, negotiation, conflict 
     resolution, and peacekeeping in order to ensure the most 
     enduring peace for Ukraine and the region: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes, honors, and commends the women of Ukraine 
     who have contributed to the fight for freedom and the defense 
     of Ukraine, including women who--
       (A) are members of the Armed Forces Territorial Defense 
     Forces of Ukraine;
       (B) are volunteers, organizing and operating humanitarian 
     organizations;
       (C) are doctors, nurses, paramedics, and support personnel, 
     providing life-saving services across Ukraine;
       (D) have mobilized to assist the safe transfer of the 
     children and other vulnerable individuals from Ukraine; and
       (E) are public leaders, politicians, and diplomats;
       (2) stands with the people of Ukraine in support of their 
     fight for freedom against the Russian Federation;
       (3) acknowledges the women who have risked their lives to 
     travel through territory controlled by the Russian 
     Federation, break siege tactics surrounding cities, and to 
     ensure the safety of children and the elderly;
       (4) commends--
       (A) the bordering countries of Ukraine, including Poland, 
     Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and Moldova, who are 
     accommodating more than 4,300,000 refugees; and
       (B) the broader European Union for committing to provide 
     support during the growing humanitarian crisis;
       (5) calls on all countries to ensure that aid provided in 
     support of refugees of and internally displaced persons 
     within Ukraine takes into account the needs of women and the 
     gender-specific risks that women face in seeking safety;
       (6) acknowledges the important role women must play in 
     resolving the conflict between Ukraine and the Russian 
     Federation as outlined in United Nations Security Council 
     Resolution 1325 (2016) and required by the laws of the United 
     States and regulations of Ukraine;
       (7) further calls on all countries to promote the 
     meaningful inclusion of women in negotiations and decision-
     making at all levels, including security decisions; and
       (8) commits to supporting the women of Ukraine wherever 
     they are as they fight back against tyranny and work for the 
     free and democratic future of Ukraine.

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